Rufflers



Jan. 16, 1962 s. P. CALDWELL RUFFLERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 9,1959 ATTORNEYS Jan. 16, 1962 s. P. CALDWELL 3,016,850

RUFFLERS Filed April 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W ffwwr qua/MW! JM ATTORNEYS Unite rates Pate ntOfitice 3,016,850 Patented .lan. 16, 19623,016,850 RUFFILERS Samuel P. (Caldwell, l-lamden, Conn, assignor, bymeans assignments, to Mite Corporation, New Haven, Conn, a corporationof Delaware Filed Apr. 9, 1959, Ser. i o. $05,198 illaims. (CL ll2-l35}This invention relates to sewing machine attachments and moreparticularly to a miller attachment adapted to be employed with theordinary household sewing machine.

Rufller attachments for sewing machines are normally provided withrullling mechanism which is actuated by a fork arm attached to theneedle bar of the machine with which the attachment is used. This needlebar operates a ratchet wheel to effect counting of the stitches betweenthe pleating or ruffling operation. It also actuates at intervals, whichare adjustable, a feed blade which effects the pleating or rufiling ofthe material in that it carries forward a part of the material to pleatit over an under part. Thirdly, the fork arm effects the resetting ofthe blade to its initial position.

In the usual attachment of this character the forward position of thefeed blade depends upon the position of the fork arm at the end of itsupward stroke. In order, therefore, to effect ruflles of differentwidth, the feed blade is reset or moved backwardly through a variabledistance so that the movement of the feed blade from its reset positionto its final forward position determined by the limit of the upperstroke of the needle bar will be variable.

As the fork arm continues to move the pendulum to the extreme forwardtravel of the needle bar, the unwanted stroke of the needle bar cannotbe discarded and hence rufflers which are stroked to one machine cannotbe used on machines having different strokes and reliance on the extremetravel of the fork arm to finally place the feed blade at the limit ofits movement necessitates careful factory adjustment of rufflers tocorrespond to each make or model of sewing machine.

As the attachments are made in quantity, it is, of course, desirable tohave them universal in use, that is, usable with any make or model ofmachine, without having to be adjusted by the user in accordance withthe particular stroke of the sewing machine with which the attachment isemployed. In the present instance this result is effected by discardingthe unwanted stroke of the needle bar particularly upon its forwardmovement.

Three conditions affect the forward end position of the feed blade. Oneis the length of the stroke or the top limit position of the needle bar.Another is the distance of the needle bar from the presser bar to whichthe attachment is secured, and a third is the size of the hub or needlescrew on the needle bar to which the fork arm is connected. Sewingmachines vary in all these features but these variations can beeliminated by the present construction in which the unwanted stroke ofthe needle bar is discarded by causing the actuating pawl carried by thefork arm to ride off of the shoulder of the pendulum lever at the propertime so that the forward stroke will always end at the same point.

Also in attachments of this character a separator blade is employed overwhich the material passes, which separator blade lies between the feeddog of the sewing machine and the material. In some forms of sewing,this separator blade is necessary but it sometimes interferes with thefeed of the material in that it is prevented from engagement with thematerial rearwardly of the pleat being formed. In the present instancethe separator blade is opened up or cut away so as to allow full feeddog action while at the same time holding the material upwardly from thefeed dog to some extent. The separator blade is particularly desirablewhere forming ruffles on one piece of cloth which is sewed to anothercoincidentally with the willing operation, but by cutting away oropening up the feed blade so as to permit full feed dog action, betterfeeding of the material is effected and clogging of the material isprevented as well as raveling and forming loose loops over the edge ofthe ruffle. With the use of such a separator and blade the feed dogscontact both upper and lower plies of the goods and will feed the entireloop forwardly but at the same time raises the goods slightly above thebed plate to prevent feeding until the needle is moved upwardly out ofthe ruffie.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedruliler attachment for sewing machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rufiier attachment forsewing machines which will be usable with machines of various makes andmodels without special adjustment to compensate for the stroke of theparticular machine with which the attachment is employed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a ruiller attachmentfor sewing machines wherein the end position of the rullling blade isdetermined by the attachment itself rather than by the end position ofthe upward stroke of the needle bar so that this forward position of thefeed blade will always be constant regardless of such stroke.

Still another object of the invention is to effect the above result bydiscarding the unwanted part of the stroke of the needle barparticularly at the upper end thereof by causing the pawl carried by thefork arm of the machine to be disengaged from the pendulum lever whichcarries the feed blade at a given point in the operation of the forkarm.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

PEG. 1 is a side elevational view of a miller attachment embodying myinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevation taken from the side opposite thatshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the mechanism foreffecting disengagement of the pawl from the shoulder of the pendulumlever which carries the fork arm;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the separator blade;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the feed or ruffiing blade;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view showing the operation of forming aruffle; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view substantially on line 9-? of FIG. 8.

To illustrate one embodiment of the invention there is shown in thedrawings a rufr'ler attachment comprising a frame it) having at itsforward end an adapter ill by which it may be secured to the presser barof a sewing machine. Secured to and extending laterally from the frameis a foot member provided with. a spring shoe 13 below which thematerial passes.

Pivoted to the frame upon a pivot pin .15 is the usual pendulum lever 16to the lower end of which is pivoted a carrier member 17 which carriesthe usual feed blade 18 having at its forward end serrated teeth 19 toengage the material and move it forwardly to form the pleat or ruffle.The carrier member 1'7 travels between a spring guide member 29 and theframe It) in order that it may be properly guided in its movements.

A fork arm 21 is also pivoted upon the pin 15 and provided with abifurca ed forward end 22 for attachment to the needle screw or a hubupon the needle bar in the usual manner.

The fork arm is provided with a laterally extending lug 23 to which ispivoted at 2.4 a pawl carrier 25 so that the latter may be moved in agenerally horizontal plane. The pawl carrier 25 is provided with adownwardly projecting pawl 26 designed to engage a shoulder 27 formed onthe pendulum lever in order to move the latter in a clockwise directionand advance feed blade 18 or move it toward the left, as shown in P16.1.

In order that the advance of the pendulum lever may be timed or countedso that a pleat may be formed at various intervals in the sewingoperation, a ratchet wheel 2% is rotatably mounted on the pin 15, thisratchet wheel having deep and shallow notches. A masking member 29 maybe secured to this ratchet wheel to cover one of the deep notches, asshown in FIG. 3.

The fork arm is provided at its rear end with an up wardly extendingfinger 3th with which may be engaged one of a number of openings 31, 31and 3t in the pawl carrier 25 depending upon the setting of the latterabout its pivot pin 24%. That is, the pawl carrier may be moved aboutits pivot so that it will engage the shoulder 27 on the pendulum leverbut will not be in engagement with the ratchet wheel or with the maskingmember 21 In this position a rutile will be made at each complete strokeof the needle bar. When, however, the pawl carrier is moved over to theposition shown in FIG. 2 wherein the finger 3% is engaged in the openingZit the pawl will contact the ratchet wheel 2? and make a rufiie everysixth stitch. Vl/hcn moved so as to engag the finger and the opening 31a rufde will be made every twelfth stitch, and when the pawl carrier ismoved to position to register the opening indicated by the star on thedrawing with the finger 3%, the pawl will be held out of engagement withthe shoulder 27 and will effect straight stitching. These adjustmentsare the usual ones with an attachment of this character.

It will be seen that the engagement of the pawl 26 with the shoulder 27upon the upward stroke of the fork arm will move the lower end of thependulum lever forwardly or toward the left, as shown in FIG. 1, thuseffecting a forward stroke of the ruliling blade. in order to reset theruffiing blade to its starting position, a horn 33 is provided on thefork arm, which horn is adapted to engage a cam-shaped member 34 pivotedat 35 on the pendulum lever ltd so that it may be adjusted in order tovary the distance through which the pendulum lever and feed blade arereset. The distance through which the lever is reset will determine thewidth of the rufiie as the forward position of the feed blade determinedby the movement of the pendulum lever by the pawl 26 is constant.

With the above construction it will be seen that the forward endposition of the feed blade will be determined by the position of thefork arm at the upper end of its stroke. However, as previously stated,it is desired that this forward end position be determined independentlyof the stroke of the needle bar of the machine. To this end, as shownmore particularly in FIGS. 1 and 5, the frame member is provided with abeveled or inclined edge 37 adjacent the shoulder 27 when the lever 16is at the end of its forward stroke. This inclined surface is in thepath of the pawl 26 whenever it is permitted to engage the shoulder 27.The engagement of the pawl with the inclined edge or surface 37 willcause it to ride upwardly so as to be disengaged from the shoulder 27,as shown in dotted-line position in FIG. 5. Therefore, the disengagementof this pawl from the shoulder 27 will be determined by its position onthe frame and not by the position of the fork arm at the upper end ofits stroke as the fork arm may continue its movement after suchdisengagement without effecting additional movement of the pendulum 16.Thus the unwanted position of the upward stroke of the fork arm isdiscarded and the final position of the rufliing blade or feed bladedetermined independently of the final upper position of the fork arm.

it will be understood that when the pendulum lever 16 is reset by thehorn 33, the shoulder 27 will be moved in a counterclockwise directionso as to permit engagement of the pawl 26 with the shoulder 27 upon theupward stroke of the fork arm, and this engagement will continue duringa part of this stroke. When the pawl 26 reaches the position shown infull lines in FIG. 5, it will have begun to ride up upon the inclined orcam surface 37 but is still in engagement with the shoulder 27. However,upon further movement of the pawl and lever to these parts will havemoved to their dotted-line positions shown in FIG. 5 wherein the pawlwill be moved further upwardly upon the surface 37 and become disengagedfrom the shoulder 27 and no further movement of the pendulum lever orfeed blade will be effected.

As previously stated, it is desirable in some kinds of work to use aseparator blade between the goods or material and the feed dogs of thesewing machine. Such a separator blade is shown at 39 and is securedadjacent its rear end to the guide member it? which is carried by a partof the frame it). As shown in FIG. 8, the material ll is fed betweenthis separator blade and the feed blade 18, the pleat or ruffie 42 beingformed between the latter and the spring shoe 1%. The latter is providedwith an opening 43 for the passage therethrough of the needle 44. Thesewing machine bed is indicated at 45 through an opening in which thefeed dog 46 may move. While it is sometimes desirable, as stated, tospace the material 41 slightly above the feed dogs in order to permitthe needle to move out of the rufile before feeding begins, it is notdesirable to completely shield the material from the feed dog for inthat case only the upper ply of the material will be engaged by the feeddog and improper feeding and even jambing of the feed may result. Inorder to permit contact of the feed dogs with the lower ply of thematerial below the pleat, the sepa rator blade is provided with arelatively wide recess 47 so as to straddle the feed dog, as shown inFIG. 9. Thus, while the material is slightly raised above the bed of themachine to delay the engagement of the feed dog therewith, neverthelessthe latter may be raised through the opening 47 to engage the lower plyof the goods so that both plies will be fed forward positively.

This will not only prevent the unraveling or pulling out of the upperply of the loop so that the same width of pleat or ruffle is alwaysobtained, but will effect stitching closer to the edge of the pleat andeliminate jambing or obstruction in the feed of the material.

It will be noted that the needle opening 43 in the spring shoe 13 isrelatively wide and, as the opening 47 is also wide, the sewing machine,when the attachment is used, may sew either to the right or left ofcenter as is sometimes desirable in the case of a zigzag machine Wherethe straight stitching is sometimes off center.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it willbe understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown,but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of theinvention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a leverpivoted thereto and carrying a ruffiing blade at its lower end, a forkarm pivoted to the frame, a pawl carrier actuated by the fork arm, apawl on said carrier having an end portion engaging said lever to effecta forward movement of the rut-fling blade, and cam means on the frame todisengage said pawl from the lever at a predetermined point in theupward stroke of the fork arm.

2. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a leverpivoted thereto and carrying a ruffling blade at its lower end, a forkarm pivoted to the frame, a pawl carrier actuated by the fork arm andhaving a pawl thereon to engage said lever and effect a forward movementof the ruffling blade, and means in fixed position on the frame andformed integrally therewith and disposed in the path of said pawl todisengage said pawl from the lever at a predetermined point in theupward stroke of the fork arm.

3. A rufiler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a leverpivoted thereto and carrying a ruffiing blade at its lower end, a forkarm pivoted to the frame, a pawl carrier actuated by the fork arm andhaving a pawl thereon to engage said lever and effect a forward movementof the ruifling blade, and said frame being provided with a cam surfacein the path of said pawl to engage the latter at a predetermined pointin the upward stroke of the fork arm and disengage it from said lever.

4. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a leverpivoted thereto and carrying a ruffiing blade at its lower end, a forkarm pivoted to the 20 frame, a pawl member actuated by the fork arm,said lever having a shoulder portion to be engaged by the pawl member toeffect a forward movement of the feed blade upon an upward stroke of thefork arm, said frame having an inclined cam surface with which said pawlengages at a predetermined point in the stroke of the fork arm to effectdisengagement of the pawl from said shoulder.

5. A ruifler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a leverpivoted thereto and carrying a ruffling blade at its lower end, a forkarm pivoted to the frame, a pawl member actuated by the fork arm, saidlever having a shoulder portion to be engaged by the pawl member toeffect a forward movement of the feed blade upon an upward stroke of thefork arm, and said frame having an upwardly inclined cam surface withwhich said pawl engages at a predetermined point in the stroke of thefork arm to lift said pawl out of engagement with said shoulder andpermit further movement of the fork arm without efiecting movement ofthe lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS564,359 Barnum July 21, 1896 931,641 Parsons Aug. 17, 1909 1,547,528Sears July 28, 1925 2,574,661 Russell Nov. 13, 1951

